Muted Melody
by MidnightMuse96
Summary: "We may be tainted, but I'll make us pure again. It all starts with you. Speak for me, Sakura." He whispered. The mute girl hesitated, because you can't make love pure without ending the past of lies and bloodshed. SasuSaku.On hold for now.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters.

**Chapter One**

**~The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances; if there is any reaction, both are transformed.~**

The sun shined brightly, illuminating everything in sight on a beautiful Monday spring afternoon.

A small raven-haired boy clutched his older brother's hand tightly as they walked up to what would soon be his newest nightmare.

"Don't worry, Sasuke. You'll have fun; you just need to learn to make some friends first." Itachi, his older brother told him reassuringly as they walked past a sign that said Leaf Daycare.

"Hn." Sasuke muttered.

He didn't want to be friends with all of the other children because he hated them.

He wanted nothing to do with their games and imaginary friends.

He wasn't like them in any way, nor would he ever be.

His older brother sighed and then opened the door.

When they went in, they were both greeted by a middle-aged woman.

Sasuke looked at her skeptically as she emerged from the main desk to the right of where they stood.

"Hello! Is this your first time visiting here?" She asked in a cheerful tone, looking at Itachi for an answer with her bright brown eyes.

She was wearing blue jeans and had a red buttoned up shirt with Leaf Daycare labeled on the front in the middle.

"Yes it is. I'm Itachi Uchiha and this is my little brother, Sasuke." Itachi formally introduced them as he nudged Sasuke forward with a slight jab from his elbow.

Sasuke took a step in the direction of the woman, bowed quickly, and then resumed his place by his brother.

"I'm Miss Naomi and it's very nice to meet the both of you. Follow me and I'll show you were everyone else is playing together." She said to them, but Sasuke could tell her command was more directed to him.

Reluctantly, he followed her with his older brother across the plain white room, down a hallway.

As they walked Itachi started talking about Sasuke as if he wasn't even there.

"Sasuke's not the most…" His older brother paused.

"Sociable person." He finished.

Miss Naomi nodded and then Itachi went on saying how he'd like Sasuke to make some friends and he warned her that Sasuke was a trouble maker.

Sasuke huffed at his older brother.

He wasn't that much of a trouble maker, after all it was the other kids that always did things to him that made him mad enough to hit them and start a fight.

He'd been to so many different daycares because he could never control his actions and always got blamed and Itachi had just taken him out of one daycare and simply put him in another one while he was away.

Besides, Sasuke had lived only with Itachi for years now and didn't want to talk or make friends with any other people because he had his older brother and that was all he would ever need.

That and the fact that him and these kids had nothing in common and he hated everything about them without even meeting them.

His older brother looked down at Sasuke and told him, "I want you to make at least one friend today. You never know if you can do it until you try. Just try for me, Sasuke. I know you can do it." Itachi then squeezed Sasuke's hand and in a response Sasuke shrugged with a nod.

He didn't want to disappoint his brother, but he knew that it would take a miracle for him to make even one friend that he liked at any daycare.

So what would make this one any different from the others?

She led them to a closed door and stopped in front of it, as did Sasuke and Itachi.

"This is where you'll be able to pick up Sasuke at when you return for him, Mr. Uchiha." Miss Naomi told Itachi as she opened the door and ushered them in.

Sasuke went in after Itachi, his senses on high alert.

He had to hold back a strong urge to put his hands up and cover his ears that were harshly taking in the different sounds.

Numerous toys were clattering with each other and high-pitched happy screeches filled his ears.

Grimacing, Sasuke looked around at what would be his twelve hour nightmare.

He saw toy bins, scattered toys all around, kids of all different sizes and ages playing, running, or sitting with picture books.

He inwardly groaned as he saw that the carpet was like a ruined canvas, for it was splotched and splatted with blue, pink, orange, red, yellow, and green all throughout it.

Then Sasuke dreadfully glanced up at the walls that had only one window on each side, hoping that they would be one solid color.

But it was clearly not his lucky day today, because they, too, were coated with all of the different colors splashed together.

He scrunched his nose, for the carpet and the walls both looked like someone had vomited one gigantic nasty rainbow.

"Well I have to go to work now. It was nice talking with you, Miss Naomi and I'll be back around five to pick Sasuke up." Itachi said to her and then he turned to Sasuke.

He bent down and Sasuke hugged him tightly, wishing Itachi would change his mind and take Sasuke with him.

"Have fun little brother." Itachi whispered in his ear and then stood back up.

Sasuke watched longingly as his brother walked back down the hallway by himself.

"Why don't you go off and play, Sasuke? There are all sorts of different things to have fun with." She suggested, smiling at him.

Sasuke looked back at her and gave her a small smile with a slight nod of his head.

He turned to face the noisy room and walked to a spot in the far right corner where a pile of scattered blocks lay untouched with no other kids near them.

Sasuke reached them and sat down, noticing that they had the color blue, yellow, red, or green on each of them.

Sasuke scooped a large group of them together and pulled them over by his knees.

He picked up a blue one and knew instantly that it was made out of wood just by the feel of it.

He took another look around the loud room, making sure that he wasn't near any other kids, and then began to build with the different colored wooden blocks.

He didn't know what his creation was going to resemble, but he worked gingerly with each block he picked up.

Minutes passed by and no one had bothered him yet, which he was undoubtedly grateful for.

But Sasuke knew that his silent and solo peace wouldn't last very much longer.

**Tap, tap.**

Sure enough, a short time later Sasuke felt a small hand tap his shoulder twice and then stop.

He shrugged it off and made no verbal reply back.

_It's probably some snot-nosed kid. Whatever, I don't interact with their kind anyways. _

He continued stacking the wooden blocks on top of each other one by one, now beginning to form the base of a pyramid.

**Tap, tap.**

Sasuke froze when he felt the tapping once more on his shoulder.

"Stop it." He commanded in a low voice, for now he was starting to get irritated.

There was no reply; no more taps either, so Sasuke just assumed that whoever was trying to mess with him gave up.

A minute later, Sasuke paused as he delicately placed one of the last blocks on what would soon be the very top of his pyramid.

He pulled his hand back slowly, making sure that his hand movement wouldn't cause the whole thing to come crashing down.

Sasuke grinned to himself when it was still perfectly standing tall as he put his hand on the soft multi-colored carpet, for he was taking the time to admire his first masterpiece here.

Hopefully he wouldn't get himself into trouble too soon, because he was beginning to like the fact that no one had bothered him so far besides that annoying tapping.

For once he was in a good mood at a daycare filled with loud kids.

Sasuke bet that none of the kids in this very room could even read or write complete sentences with correct spelling.

No one except him that is.

They were annoying, selfish, and stupid kids that were so naive of everything happening around them except for what they were doing.

Sure enough, just as if to prove his point, the small hand acted as if on a cue and placed itself upon his shoulder once more.

Sasuke's smile instantly faded into an unamused and annoyed expression.

He closed his eyes tightly and gritted his teeth, knowing if he made a scene here then he would ultimately be forced to attend a new daycare and that would only make things worse for his older brother and himself.

He silently braced himself, waiting for the moment when either the small hand would leave his shoulder or tap it.

**Tap, tap.**

Sasuke snapped open his eyes, now obviously mad with whoever was trying to mess with him.

Not wanting to look at whoever it was over his shoulder he growled, "Leave me alone."

Heeding his warning, the small hand disappeared for a third, and what Sasuke hoped would be a final time.

He exhaled a sigh of relief and began to ponder to himself as he sat motionless looking at the colorful wall in front of him.

Itachi wanted him to make at least one friend for the time that he would be here, but Sasuke hated the mere thought of it.

Sasuke would never befriend any of these kids.

He loathed them, every single one of them.

Every day, no matter which daycare Itachi made him go to, all of the kids were picked up by their loving and happy parents.

All of the kids except Sasuke, for his parents were no longer in Sasuke's, or Itachi's life.

That's exactly the reason why Sasuke hated them all, because they had something precious in their lives that Sasuke or Itachi would never be able to get back.

He let out a breath and rolled his eyes.

_These stupid kids even probably take their parents for granted! _

Although Sasuke nor Itachi had ever taken their parents for granted, they were disciplined and both needed to hold their heads high, because they had a status that their whole family had to uphold.

But in between their parents important work schedule, they still made a lot of time to spend with Sasuke and Itachi, to love them and create many wonderful family fun-filled memories with them.

His parents were the head of the Uchiha Corporation and deemed themselves far too important and busy to find the time to raise their sons.

Itachi had taken charge and found a place for him and Sasuke to stay and had even gotten a job.

Neither of them wanted to rely on the heaps of money their parents continuously supplied them with.

Simply because they hated their parents and wanted nothing to do with them, just like when their parents left them to fend for themselves.

Sasuke let out another sigh, but this one was drawn out and filled with longing.

They weren't even his biological parents, for his actual parents had perished in a house fire one unforgettable night when Sasuke was only five years old and Itachi was ten years old.

Shortly after their funeral, while Sasuke and Itachi were still heavily grieving it was decided by the Uchiha Corporation that neither of them were capable enough to run the corporation yet.

So, they were adopted by a married couple that happened to be working right under their parents back when they were alive.

That only resulted in their adopted parents becoming the head of the corporation until Itachi chose to take their place, which of course he always flat out refused when asked.

Their adopted parents were nothing like their real parents, for there was no hugs or kisses, no love, no bedtime stories, nothing.

It was the complete opposite.

They practically lived at the corporation once they owned it, leaving Sasuke and Itachi alone all too often.

After a while, Itachi had become Sasuke's sole supporter and caretaker.

They learned to fend for only themselves and provide the necessities and love for each other.

Sasuke learned many things throughout the years since losing his parents and living only with his older brother.

He learned that if you wanted something in life then you had to work for it.

Nothing was ever handed over to you the easy way, and if it was, then you truly didn't deserve nor earned it.

Itachi had taught him not to sugarcoat anything, because it only made everything worse in the long run.

Itachi had also taught Sasuke to read and write, also provided him with not only the necessities, but also books that Sasuke read and was able to expand his knowledge while he waited for Itachi to get home from school.

But then one day Itachi had received a letter from the corporation saying that Sasuke was no longer allowed to spend his days at home alone and would have to be put in a daycare for the time being until he was old enough to go to a school and begin receiving his education.

So, that's why he was here in the first place.

**Swish.**

Sasuke snapped out of his thoughts and back to the present.

His eyes caught a blur of a yellow block flying right by his nose.

It was so close to hitting him that Sasuke felt the air current change to match the motion and direction of the flying block.

Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise and sudden shock as he heard the block hit the wall to the right of him.

A couple of quiet moments passed, yet Sasuke could still hear all of the kids making an uproar in the room.

He didn't move until he was sure that no more blocks would be thrown in his direction.

After a minute, Sasuke surely, but ever so slowly turned his head in the direction that the block had come from.

Still wide-eyed, he stopped when he saw a girl standing up close to him, but not just any regular daycare girl.

This girl was much different; because the first thing he noticed about her was that she had pink hair.

Sasuke simply couldn't believe or trust his eyes right now, so he did a quick double-take.

Sure enough, she still had short, straight, and pink hair.

Sasuke blinked madly and then burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

He just couldn't believe it!

_That can't be her real hair color!_

Never before in his life had he saw a girl, or boy for this matter, with pink hair.

He continued laughing until he was distinctly aware of the sudden sound that seemed oddly familiar to him.

Sasuke's eyes bulged when he realized that it was the sound of another block that was now whipping by the top of his head.

His muscles tensed up once more as he heard it hit the same wall as the first one with a thud and fell to the carpet.

Sasuke looked over at it warily and saw that this one was red.

His jaw dropped in disbelief.

Who would want to throw something at him when he hadn't even done anything wrong?

He wanted to know who had done that and the reason why.

Slowly he turned his head in the direction that the second block had come from.

Sasuke looked upon the pink-haired girl again.

She was wearing jeans with a white tee-shirt that had the Japanese Kanji sign faith written in black on the front of it.

She was holding two more blocks in her right hand, which were blue and green, whereas her left was empty.

So she was the one that had tried twice to hit him.

Sasuke glanced nervously at his finished pyramid and hesitated on whether or not to yell out for Miss Naomi or fight back against this pink-haired girl with his own supply of blocks.

He started inching his hand over to retrieve a block from his pyramid, but stopped when he saw that she didn't make an advancement to thrown another one of her own at him.

She simply just kept standing there without making a sound.

Sasuke decided that he was safe for now and took the chance to look at her face for the first time.

It was a light shade of paleness and she had rosy-pink lips that were pulled together in a tight line.

She had a raised eyebrow and her eyes were a stunning emerald reflection.

Sasuke could sharply tell what her expression was visibly telling him, besides that she had an unusually large forehead.

It said 'Try that again and see what happens.'

He took another look at her pink hair again as he tried his best to suppress a laugh, for he didn't want to offend her anymore than he clearly already did.

He was still surprised that her hair was such an unnatural color, but now that he was looking at her full face he could tell that it actually added to the mesmerizing eye color of hers.

Sasuke blinked again, adjusting his eyes back to normal and then he coughed slightly while muttering, "Sorry."

There was a flicker of understanding in her eyes when he apologized, but then she put her empty left hand up to her pink hair and behind her ear, as if telling Sasuke that she didn't hear what he just said.

Grunting, he shifted uncomfortably and then looked back at the colorful wall in front of him. "I said I'm sorry." He repeated quietly.

Sasuke immensely hated himself right now.

Here he was saying sorry to a girl with pink hair who had just tried not once, but twice, to hit him in the face with a yellow AND red block!

She was probably the one that had tapped him continuously on the shoulder, too.

He groaned.

_What a great way to start off my first day here. Instead of getting in a fight using scissors against another kid like last time, I end up being the one threatened. Hn. That's not like me at all. I'm usually the one that does the threatening, not the other way around. _

Pulling up his knees to his chest, Sasuke wrapped his arms around them and set his head down.

He didn't care about the silent-pink-haired-block-throwing girl.

She hadn't even said a word to him yet.

His eyes flickered back to where she was standing before, but she was no longer there anymore.

"Okay children its naptime so get your blankets and lie down!" Miss Naomi announced.

Sasuke lifted his head up and watched as the other kids went to a green set of cubbies and each took one mat out and quietly chose a place to lie down.

"Hn. They're finally being quiet." He muttered, not bothering to move from his spot.

He saw Miss Naomi walking up to him with a puzzled look on her face.

"Sasuke? Aren't you going to get a mat like everyone else?" She asked.

Sasuke was about to open his mouth to reply, but a small hand appeared from behind Miss Naomi and tugged on her red shirt lightly a few times.

"Oh, well it looks like you're already covered." She said to him as she looked behind her.

"You two are such good friends all ready!" She exclaimed happily with a clap of her hands as she walked off to help the other kids.

He snorted at her comment, for his only friend was his older brother.

But in her place now stood the silent-pink-haired-block-throwing girl with two mats, one tucked under her left arm and the other was in her right hand which was outstretched towards Sasuke.

There was a warm and friendly smile on her face as she nodded to him, yet Sasuke was momentarily confused by her actions.

Wasn't she just mad at him?

So why was she smiling and offering him an extra mat that she had gotten?

With a grumbled "Thank you," Sasuke took the mat she offered, although he didn't understand her one bit.

He got up and unfolded his mat out on the floor; likewise she did the same with hers near his.

She took out a small notepad and a pencil from her back pocket as they both laid down on their mats.

Sasuke turned on his side, looked at her pencil and notepad, and then faced her with a raised eyebrow, "Do you do this a lot?"

She shook her head and cocked it sideways, pointing a finger at him.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, wondering why she couldn't just speak to him.

To answer her question he shook his head and added, "Two can play at this game."

It was her turn to be confused now as she had a puzzled look on her face and took her pencil and wrote down something and then held it up to show Sasuke.

He read her small scribbled handwriting and answered bluntly, "Not speaking."

She had a pained expression on her face and hastily wrote on the notepad again.

This time, she thrust it in his face angrily and he read it, feeling instantly sorry for saying that as he read each word.

"I'm mute, so I can't speak. Geez first you make fun of my hair and now my voice!" Sasuke read her words.

He looked up from the notepad and tried to redeem himself, "Look I'm sorry. It's just…"

But she quickly wrote something else down and shoved it in his face again before he could even get another word out.

"Just the fact that you feel sorry for me now? That I'm different from you?" The notepad said.

Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration, how was he supposed to interact with this girl without making her instantly mad at him?

She was nothing like how Itachi behaved, and Itachi was the only person that Sasuke knew how to interact with easily.

Choosing his words carefully, he spoke in a low voice, "You're not the only one that's different."

He read her reply as she wrote it out and interjected, "Not my fault if you can't talk."

"You're nothing like me, and I don't mean by not being able to talk." He added.

She pouted and wrote down a reply to everything he said to her, soon enough they were in the middle of a quarrel.

Sasuke hardly took notice that Miss Naomi had left the room and shut the lights off, making the room cast moving light spots from the sunlight outside.

He had just got done verbally bashing her pink hair style and she had just finished angrily making comebacks about his spiked hair style.

"Your nonstop poking me was getting on my nerves!" Sasuke hissed at her.

She bit her lower lip defensively and then wrote her response.

He read the words she wrote when she was finished, for a patch of sunlight was slowly passing over it.

"Yeah, well you not answering me made me mad so I threw those blocks at you to get your attention Mr. Sulky." The notepad said.

Sasuke was fed up with the girl at this point, especially considering how she just made a nickname for him when she probably didn't even know his real name, yet he didn't want to hurt this girl and be kicked out, but he would win this taunting war no matter what it took.

"Hn. You may be able to read and write like I can, but you still have things in your life that I'll never get back in mine." Sasuke murmured as hate mixed with sadness in his voice.

Sasuke looked around the room of sleeping kids as he gave the girl time to write her comment back to him.

"All of you…" He whispered to the other kids as a passing sunlight beam hit his inexpressible face.

They all looked so peaceful and carefree in their sleep, for they were free of haunting nightmares and were probably having a good dream about their family, unlike how Sasuke's sleep was.

He clenched his hands into fists, thinking back to the nightmare he had only just last night.

Why couldn't he have just stayed awake that horrific night so he could have gotten his parents out too?

If he did then Itachi and himself would still have a mother and a father to call their own, they wouldn't be the way they were now and Sasuke wouldn't be arguing with this girl right now.

Sasuke looked back down at her notepad to distract him.

It was now in his lap; he slowly read what she had written and was shocked at her words.

"Like loving parents?" The notepad questioned.

He could only nod his head as he stared down at the words she had written.

How did she guess right?

Sasuke didn't look up from where his eyes were, not even blinking when she gently took it from his lap.

How was she able to guess that without even knowing his name or anything about him?

He heard her pencil writing on her notepad and the soft sound of kids breathing.

How was it that she had just read him like a book with no words, yet knew the whole story?

Her notepad hit his lap again and he looked at her words that instantly shattered the hate between them, but much more importantly, the sole root of their differences.

"I lost mine too. Maybe we're not so different after all." His eyes widened, for there was actually another kid like him.

Sasuke looked up at the girl, her emerald eyes were saddened, but she had a wide smile spread across her face.

She wrote another thing on her notebook and gave it back to him as he returned her smile, suddenly feeling a strong connection between the two of them that he hadn't ever felt before.

Simply because Sasuke hadn't met someone else similar to him before since his parents passing.

He read what was on her notebook and stifled a small intake of breath at the words on it.

"You don't have to be alone anymore." He read.

Sasuke looked back up to her and nodded, "You don't have to be alone anymore either."

The girl blinked, tears beginning to form in her eyes as she nodded with a dip of her head.

"I'm sorry," He told her quietly, repeating it several times until she made a movement with her small hands.

He closed his mouth and watched as she pointed a finger at herself and then held up two fingers with her other hand, Sasuke guessed it was her way of saying 'me too.'

He noticed that the traces of tears forming in her emerald eyes had vanished, as if they weren't even there in the first place.

He nodded and she stopped, grabbed her notepad once more, wrote down something, and then handed it back to him.

"I'm Sakura, and your?" The notepad asked.

"Sasuke. My name is Sasuke Uchiha." He introduced himself, holding out his right hand to her.

She looked uncertainly at his hand and then slowly moved hers forward.

Sasuke grasped her hand, it felt warm and small, yet seemed like it belonged there.

Sakura warmly smiled at him and Sasuke friendly smiled back.

Then, just as a sunlight beam slowly passed over their clasped hands, they shook each other's hand, forming more than either of them could ever begin to explain.

As it faded away they released each other's hand and both laid down to sleep.

Sakura fell asleep quickly, breathing softly in her slumber.

"You're the same. You've lost what I lost. That makes you my first friend, Sakura." Sasuke murmured to the sleeping girl beside him.

Sasuke closed his eyes, letting sleep overtake him as he thought one last sentence.

_I finally made one friend, someone who knows what it's like to lose their parents, someone that's the same as me, someone I hope I never lose… Because I don't think I could find anyone else like me ever again._

And that's the first chapter of Muted Melody! Let me know what you think of this story, because this is my first fanfic. As of right now, the next few chapters will continue being set during their childhood times because there will be things that will explain how and why they act certain ways and it will lead up to a time skip to when they're older. I would love some feedback!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters.

**Chapter Two**

**~When you arrive at a new place and it feels like home, when there's kind people to welcome you in, that's exactly when you know you're not all alone.~**

Sasuke was vaguely aware of himself being slightly jostled against something; just enough to wake him up from his nap by some extent.

He shifted his position, burrowing his head farther into whatever was jostling him, attempting to get comfortable so he could sleep some more.

Taking a breath of air in, Sasuke immediately recognized the scent as his older brother, and he also recognized that his older brother was talking to a woman, but this woman was a voice he hadn't heard before.

Letting himself be a small bit noisy, Sasuke faked that he was still asleep by breathing in and out slowly while tuning his ears to listen in on their conversation.

"Yes, it's nice to know they're getting along." The woman said in a warm and friendly voice.

Sasuke could only manage to hear bits and pieces of their conversation, but it was enough to somewhat understand what they were talking about.

_Getting along? Who, me and Sakura?_

Sasuke felt Itachi nod and then the next sentence the woman spoke he knew exactly that they were talking about him and Sakura.

"Hasn't spoken a word since… Terrible, just absolutely terrible." She spoke, now sadden over something.

"But that's why they still have us," Itachi commented.

"… Always was being bullied," The woman told Itachi softly.

Sasuke let out a low and unexpected growl from his throat when he heard her talking about Sakura getting bullied by the other kids for how she communicated with them and by her appearance being different from theirs.

_It's not her fault!_

"… Until she beat those bullies up by herself." She finished, and Sasuke immediately stopped his clamor, hoping that Itachi hadn't noticed.

Sasuke grinned to himself, he already knew that Sakura wasn't afraid to make herself know by force, for he had just experienced it himself earlier.

He heard his older brother say, "Sasuke does the same thing."

"Then they'll get along real well, I'm positive of it," He heard her claim.

"Oh my, I need to be on my way now. See you tomorrow?" She asked his older brother, who replied with a nod of his head.

Sasuke heard her leave, thinking that she was probably carrying Sakura in her arms, because his ears didn't detect another set of footsteps leaving.

"Who was that?" Sasuke murmured into his older brother's chest as he started carrying him outside.

"Sakura's aunt. Her name is Mitsu Haruno." Itachi explained as he looked down at Sasuke.

"Nice name," He whispered with a smirk on his face as he fell back asleep.

Weeks passed by as Sasuke and Sakura became close friends, sharing their most precious toys together at the daycare, sleeping beside one another, brightening up each other's day with just one single smile.

Sasuke and Itachi alike grew fond of Sakura's aunt, she was kind to them and she seemed motherly-like, which was something they both hadn't experienced in years, so naturally they both accepted her along with Sakura.

One quiet Friday evening, Sasuke crept down the creaky wooden stairs of their apartment and listened in on Itachi, who was talking on the phone to someone.

He peeked around the corner to find his older brother sitting in one of the two wooden chairs placed at the dining table in the kitchen, a phone was against his ear and he had an upset expression on his face, his free hand was busy angrily drumming the table over and over in a rhythmic pattern.

Sasuke knew that this phone call was probably from his mother's and father's company, which nine time out of ten meant bad news.

_What's happening…?_

"I can't just leave him," He heard Itachi protest into the phone.

"We'll there is someone in mind…" His older brother mused out loud and then stopped drumming his fingers harshly against the wooden table.

"Yes, yes. I'll manage, you have my word." Itachi hissed into the phone and then hung up.

Itachi took out a small notepad from his shirt pocket, similar to Sakura's, and hastily jotted something down, rose from the table with his phone, then dialed another number as he began pacing slowly across the small kitchen in a back and forth pattern.

Sasuke's muscles tensed up as he began to get nervous, wondering what all of this was about and what his older brother had to do with it.

Sasuke stayed hidden where he was, fearing that it was one of the company's secretaries on the other end of the phone, whom his older brother had spoken so harshly to, for the company to be calling and for his older brother to comply with their wants, it meant something big was about to happen.

He watched Itachi set the phone on the kitchen counter, get a cutting knife and a clean cutting board, and then took some store bought vegetables out of the tiny fridge and then unwrapped them.

They were clearly tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, and celery, Itachi washed them, then placed the first vegetable on the cutting board and he started to cut up the tomato into small slices, angrily putting his force into the knife as it sliced through the delectable ripeness of it.

Itachi must've pressed the speaker button before chopping up the first tomato because Sasuke could hear the long rings coming from it and then he heard a slight clicking sound, indicating that someone had picked up his older brother's call.

"Oh, why hello Itachi!" Mitsu's cheerful voice rang throughout the small kitchen and Sasuke relaxed at the sound of her voice, it was just what he needed at a time like this to calm down.

"Hello, I have a favor to ask of you Mitsu," Itachi spoke as he scraped the now diced tomato into a nearby pot and then returned for the next victim, the lettuce.

"And what would that be?" She asked.

Sasuke leaned forward, now more interested than ever to hear what his older brother was about to say.

Itachi stopped dicing the lettuce and spoke, "I need you to watch Sasuke for me, because I have to leave for personal matters for a while and don't know when I'll be back."

"Why of course I can, I know that Sakura would be quite happy to have a friend over and we have a spare bedroom that he can use." Mitsu agreed wholeheartedly.

_I get to spend more time with Sakura; this isn't so bad after all!_

Itachi continued slicing apart the lettuce and replied, "Thank you. I'll drop him off tomorrow morning at 10 and I'll make sure he has all his necessities packed."

"You're welcome. I'll go and let Sakura know; oh she'll be so happy. We'll see you tomorrow then." And with that the line went dead.

By now Sasuke couldn't contain his excitement, a smile spread widely across his small face and he ran across the room from his hiding spot and hugged his brother without any warning.

"Hey, be careful now, I'm trying to make dinner." The older Uchiha huffed at his younger brother's sudden embrace.

Hearing those words, Sasuke let go of his older brother and happily expressed, "Thank you, I can't wait, I'll go pack my things right now!"

He then began dashing back up the wooden stairs loudly making creaking noises with each step his took, but halfway up the stairs he stopped and turned around slowly.

"You little sneak of an Uchiha." Itachi accused him and Sasuke nodded vigorously, knowing he was caught, but didn't have a care in the world about that at the moment.

"Can I ask you something?" Sasuke called out from the stairs.

Seeing his older brother nod, he proceeded to ask him, "Why do you have to leave? Was that the company on the other line?"

Itachi instantly stopped slicing the vegetable he had been decapitating and slowly placed the cutting knife down on the counter next to him and the pot, and then turned to face his younger brother.

"It's none of you concern at the moment little brother. Now hurry up and gather your things, dinner will be done shortly," Itachi told him curtly, obviously not wanting to speak any further about the matter that he had just been asked about.

Sasuke gulped and nodded running back up the stairs and began to pack for what would soon be his exciting and fun stay at Sakura's.

As he stuffed some of his shirts into his medium sized black suitcase, he pondered sadly about what his brother had to leave and take care of.

_Itachi always, always tells me everything, there's nothing he's ever kept a secret form me as far as I know… So why won't he tell me what's going on now?_

The next morning at exactly 10:00 am, true to his spoken word, Itachi turned into Sakura's aunt's driveway and Sasuke eagerly looked out the window at the house he would be staying at for however long his older brother would be gone.

He saw a green grass-filled front year and then looked upward at the house beyond the green healthy grass.

It was large, with three windows visible from the front side, the roof was painted an auburn red color, and overall it looked very welcoming, just like how Mitsu always was.

It seemed to fit her quite well to be honest.

His eyes then darted to a small sidewalk leading up to the front steps, beyond that an auburn door with a glass pane in the middle of it as he caught a glimpse of his excited friend.

Sasuke smirked when his eyes came upon Sakura, she was the one looking for them to arrive and she had a large smile across his pale face as her pink hair only enhanced the breathtaking color of her beautiful eyes.

_She always looked so pretty, like an innocent doll._

He unbuckled himself and started to put a hand on the door handle, about to get out and rush over to greet Sakura, but he stopped when Itachi placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hang on Sasuke I have something to give you remember?" His older brother asked, sounding amused by watching Sasuke's reaction to the house.

Sasuke turned back and nodded, holding out his hand for the two items that Itachi always gave him whenever he had to leave for business so they could keep in touch.

Itachi would always call once every two nights exactly at 8 pm and the two would talk with each other, so far his older brother never failed to not call, no matter what was going on.

It was a habit the two brothers had because they were so close to each other.

Itachi handed him a spare shiny black cell phone and it's charger to go with it.

Sasuke tucked the cell phone in his front left jeans pocket and then put the charger in his right jeans pocket, making sure that both of them were secure.

"Have fun, I'll talk to Monday night. Be sure to mind your manners, and don't forget to charge it." His older brother told him as Sasuke leaned over his seat and hugged Itachi.

"Yes Itachi." Sasuke answered as he pulled back, opened the door, and then jumped out of Itachi's black Volvo, slamming the door behind him.

He dashed up to where Sakura had now opened the door and was waiting to greet him with open arms.

A light shade of pink spread across Sasuke's cheeks, for he was still embarrassed about hugging her because it wasn't something they had started to do until recently, and they had only hugged twice before.

She stepped out, wearing a pink tee-shirt with a smiley face on it that said, "Be happy!" and white kakis as Sasuke accepted her hug and wrapped his arms around her while whispering in her ear, "Looks like someone's happy to see me."

He chuckled when he received a nod from her and then broke apart their embrace.

"Hey! You need your bag!" Itachi called out from where he still was seated in the driver's seat of his car.

Sasuke groaned and felt like kicking himself for being so naïve.

How could he have forgotten something so important like that in front of Sakura?

"I'll be right back," He sheepishly told her and then ran back over to where Itachi was holding his suitcase outside the window for him.

He grabbed it and muttered, "Thanks."

"You're welcome." His older brother replied as he stifled a laugh.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and said to his older brother, "I love you, be safe."

Itachi nodded and regained his composure as he responded, "Right back at you. I love you too, little brother."

They both smiled at each other, and then Sasuke hurriedly went inside with Sakura leading him.

As soon as he stepped inside her aunt's house he noticed that there was a coat rack to the left of him, a shoe rack where Sakura's and her aunt's shoes lay at, and then there was a hallway father down.

Sasuke took off his dark blue running shoes, but kept his white socks on as he followed Sakura father down.

Beneath his feet there was a white rug that went all the way down the hallway and the walls were white with various pictures of ancient Greek paintings.

Sakura led him into what looked to be the living room of the house, for there was a large plasma screen TV placed upon the white walls, a glass table in front of two auburn couches, and a fireplace in the far right of the room that was currently not in use.

Behind the couches were two large identical dark brown bookshelves filled with all different kinds of books, Sasuke was really starting to like this place already.

Sasuke allowed Sakura to take his bag from him and he watched her as she put it down on one of the couches closest to them and then he followed her back through as she continued on her way.

"Is this your idea of a tour?" He asked, while looking at a painting as they passed by it.

She turned back to him and nodded with a smile on her face.

"Hn. I see," Sasuke murmured as he smirked, for he actually liked being shown around by Sakura.

She then turned left and they found themselves in what appeared to be the kitchen, there was that same oak wood flooring and the cabinets were made of oak wood also, the countertops were spotless and brilliantly white.

There was a large gray fridge next to the silver empty sink, across from the fridge lay another three oak cabinets, but these ones were much bigger and had a handle on each one, Sasuke guess that they might be used for storing snacks or canned foods.

A medium sized oak table was placed in the middle of the kitchen with four chairs placed around it, a bowl of various fruits lay in the middle of the table and on the other side of the kitchen Sasuke noticed a gray closed dishwasher.

Sasuke's jaw dropped after examining all of this, for he had never seen such luxuries since his real parents had passed, and to think that this was only the living room and the kitchen!

_Wow… I wonder how Mitsu can afford all of this. Either way, it's still completely amazing here._

Sakura tugged on his shirt slightly and he looked at her and she began the tour again, but this time they went upstairs.

Past the living room and the kitchen further down to the right were white-carpeted stairs, but Sasuke saw that there was a white door before they began their way up the stairs and he thought that door must lead to Mitsu's room.

Sasuke and Sakura both held on to the banister as they walked up the stairs excitedly together.

Once they both had reached the top of the stairs there was a white closet which has a washer and dryer inside it, to the left of the closet there was a door which led to a small and clean bathroom, and to the left of that led to Sakura's room.

Sakura pushed her door open and Sasuke followed her into her room, noticing a light switch near the door as he entered.

As everything else in the house, her carpeting was white, there was a white fan that was currently turned off on the ceiling in the middle of the room, the walls were white, but they had various Japanese Kanji signs on them.

Sasuke scanned one of the walls over and read the signs, "Love, peace, hope, dreams, laughter, music, Sakura."

He smiled to himself as he noticed a small bookshelf by her white door, directly down the room from the door was a glass window with blossom shaded pink curtains fluttering in the warm spring wind.

Taking another step farther in her room, he noticed that her bed was up against the far east wall laid out horizontally with different colored pink blankets and pillows neatly placed on it.

On the far west corner, directly from where Sakura's bed was there was a oak wooden desk with a matching chair and papers sprawled out across it along with a white lamp.

Past the desk Sasuke saw a full-sized circular mirror placed up on the wall.

Sakura sat down on her bed and motioned Sasuke to do the same, so he sat down next to her.

He admired how unbelievably soft and cushiony her bed was, it was completely the opposite of his hard and lumpy mattress that he slept on while his older brother always slept on the couch.

Taking another look around he saw a white closed closet to the west side of the room as he was sitting on her comfy bed and a nightstand placed at the upper west end, near where the pillows were at.

Looking down at his lap he saw a small notepad, it was the same one that she always brought to the daycare, he read what she had written and then looked over to see her holding a pen in her hand.

"You like it?" The notepad asked with a big smiley face after the question mark.

Still smiling Sasuke exclaimed, "Of course I do! This place is awesome!"

He earned a fist pump in the air from Sakura, and he guessed that meant something along the lines of "All right!" or "Oh yeah!"

Either way, he had only been here a short time and was already completely happy just exploring the house with Sakura.

She took the notepad back and put it in her kakis front pocket with the pen, got up from the bed, and motioned with her hand for Sasuke to follow her.

"I'm coming," He assured her and got off her bed and then followed her back out into the hallway.

There was a white door he hadn't noticed when he first came up here with Sakura, it was closed, but they walked over to it and she opened it as they both walked inside.

The walls and carpeting was white, there was a light switch next to the door that led to the three lights up on the wall above the white medium sized bed lying in the middle of the room.

He noticed a white nightstand next to the bed, a closet to the right of it, and a empty shelf on the east wall.

Sakura grinned as she handed Sasuke her notepad after writing something down while he was looking the white room over.

"This will be your room." The notepad said and Sasuke nodded.

"I'm back! Come down here you two!" They both turned in the direction leading out to the hallway as they heard Mitsu's voice call out to them.

Sakura wrote down something then handed it to Sasuke as they began their descent to go and see her.

"She went to the store." The notepad explained.

"I see." Sasuke told Sakura as he handed her notepad back and they walked into the kitchen where Mitsu was standing by the counter unloading groceries from grocery bags.

"We're so happy to have you Sasuke!" Mitsu joyfully told him as she saw him enter, which made him smile even more as he thanked her politely.

Sasuke looked over at Sakura who was writing another thing down; he could see that she was writing about how she showed him around the house already.

Sakura handed her notepad to Mitsu and she read it, nodding with a smile and then asked, "Well since you've done that then I'm sure you two wouldn't mind helping me put some of the groceries away?"

Sasuke mentally groaned, but helped without verbally complaining as Sakura cheerfully helped with him.

Shortly after completing that task together, Sakura and Sasuke played together in the backyard, which was more than enough room to play in.

Outside, there was a swing set, a tree that held a rope with a tire tired around it, a sandbox, a teeter-totter, and other fun toys that they could play with together during his stay here.

Later in the afternoon when they were still outside, Sasuke was on one end of the teeter-totter and Sakura was on the other up in the air, they both had their hands on the handlebars of the teeter-totter.

Sasuke pushed his feet off the ground and yelled in pure delight with a smile as he felt himself go up in the air and watched the grinning Sakura place her feet on the ground once she got near it.

"This is so much fun with you Sakura!" Sasuke shouted out to the world loudly.

And in truth it was, for Sasuke had never grown up with these kinds of outdoor play toys, so this was his first time experiencing them.

And as Sasuke started to descend he caught a glimpse of something he hadn't noticed before.

There, just outside of where the room he would be staying in during his time here appeared to be a balcony.

Sasuke could clearly make out that it was enclosed by a white railing surrounding it, but he also saw something that was black and it glistened off of the sunlight reflecting against it.

As he pushed his feet upward off of the ground he squinted his eyes, attempting to figure out what the black thing was, but he still couldn't decipher what it was.

_What could that be? I have to find out…_

When he was up fully in the air he dangled his legs back and forth and then huffed at the black object, for he was frustrated that he couldn't see what it was.

Curiosity got the best of him and he looked at Sakura.

She had a puzzled look on her face, for she was probably wondering what he had been so intently focused on while he was up in the air and as Sasuke braced his legs to meet the solid ground he decided to answer her expression with a question.

"Hey Sakura?" He asked.

She blinked and looked down at him with a smile on her pale face.

"What's up there?" Sasuke curiously questioned as he pointed to the balcony that had the black shiny thing on it.

Sakura looked in the direction that Sasuke was pointing and then turned back with a knowing look on her face as she went downward while Sasuke was going up in the air now.

She held a finger up to him and then placed her feet on the ground and didn't push off again.

Instead she took out her notebook and pen, wrote something, and then tossed it up to Sasuke.

He caught it and read what she had written to him.

"You'll find out later!" The notepad said with a smiley face after the exclamation point.

Sasuke let out a groan of protest, for he hated waiting to find out what something was.

Sakura immediately shot him an warning look, which made him stop and then he placed her notebook on the teeter-totter and let go of it slowly.

It made its way down the teeter-totter to Sakura's waiting hand as she grasped it and put it back in her pocket with a smirk back on her face.

She got up from the teeter-totter, which caused the end that Sasuke was sitting on to hastily come slamming down to the ground.

He hit the ground with a sickening thud and then let go of the handlebars, falling backward with another groan, but this time it was a groan of pain.

Sasuke closed his eyes and then opened them as the pain began to fade away from his lower torso area, he saw Sakura leaning over him holding out her hand for him to take it.

He reached up and grasped her hand, she pulled him back on his feet with some effort, for he did weigh more than her, but she still managed to keep him steady on his feet once he was upright to the ground.

"Thanks," Sasuke told Sakura as he let go of her hand and then followed her back into the front of the house.

He noticed that it was much later in the afternoon now as they bounded up the steps and went in through the front door.

"It's time for dinner you two!" They both heard Mitsu call out to them from within the kitchen as a mouthwatering aroma filled their nostrils.

Sasuke licked his lips eagerly and then they both took off their shoes and washed their hands before sitting down to the home-cooked dinner that Mitsu had made for the three of them.

Later that night when everyone was in bed, Sasuke lay beneath the warm white covers in the guest room as he looked at the door that he hadn't noticed before when Sakura had shown him the room.

He considered taking a quick sneak peek, just for a mere moment, but vanquished that thought because he knew that Sakura would show him what was in there out on the balcony soon enough.

_It's so amazing here, they have so many things that I've never even had before. Mitsu's nice like she usually is and Sakura's well… She's practically my closest friend already. Sure she has her quirks, but I have my bad side, too. Wait. She's my only friend. Either way, I wouldn't have it any other way because for the first time since living without Itachi for a bit… This place and the people in it really and truly are starting to feel like family._

Well there's the second chapter of Muted Melody! Hope you all liked it and thanks to everyone that took the time to review! I apologize if there are any errors; I didn't have the time to proof-read it because earlier today my mother got in a car accident and my mind has been shot ever since going to see her at the hospital. Nonetheless, there will be much more to come in the next chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of the Naruto characters.

**Chapter Three**

**~Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people brings happiness, but it can also leave a lingering painful memory.~**

The next morning Sasuke was abruptly woken up by someone's small hand tugging on his pajama shirt.

He groaned and then opened his eyes, blinking lazily as they slowly adjusted to the bright lights that must've been turned on while he was fast asleep.

Rolling over, Sasuke let out a loud yawn and froze when the small hand vanished from his pajama shirt and grasped the collar of it roughly.

For leaning right above him was a deviously grinning Sakura who had her hand wrapped around the collar of his pajama shirt.

"H-hey what do you think you're doing?" He mumbled grumpily and still half asleep.

As an answer, Sakura flipped him completely over onto the carpeted flooring of the guest room, leaving Sasuke shocked, now wide awake, and the wind knocked out of him.

Before Sasuke knew what hit him Sakura had already leaped down off the bed and was now back to holding him down with her hand by the collar of his pajama shirt.

His head throbbed from the sudden attack and he gritted his teeth as he looked at Sakura once he had regained his breath.

"So you think you're stronger than me, do you?" Sasuke asked her with a raised eyebrow.

She simply nodded and let go of his pajama collar, but made no sign of getting off of him anytime soon.

"Hn, wrong answer," Sasuke told her.

Sasuke quickly leaned up and grabbed Sakura's shoulders firmly, and then turned her own game against her.

For she was now the one gritting her own teeth, lying against the ground with Sasuke's hand clutched tightly around her white pajama shirt.

On the other hand, Sasuke was in her position, leaning above her with a satisfied grin on his face.

Sakura's emerald eyes got wide and soon began to fill with visible tears that were threatening to spill over.

Sasuke's own eyes widened as his grin turned to nothing when he saw Sakura's facial expression.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to!" He started to apologize, thinking that when he slammed her on the floor he might've hurt her somehow.

Sasuke began to release his hand and started to get up from where he had her pinned down.

He let out a gasp of surprise when he felt one of her legs catch his right foot causing him to sloppily stumble and lose his balance once again.

He hit the carpet with another thud, although without much pain this time, which was good so that way he wouldn't have a visible bruise from it.

The only thing bruised was his pride…

_How could I have not seen that coming? She's the one that started this little duel in the first place, so I should've known that she would have taken extra measures to end it on the winning side!_

Sasuke grumbled, upset at himself for being tricked so easily, more however being tricked by a girl.

"So not fair," He groaned as he lifted his head up to look at her.

Sakura was now the one standing triumphantly and feeling just as satisfied in her winning as his losing; she stuck her tongue out at him with a smirk and skipped out of the room.

"Come back here!" Sasuke yelled, wanting his payback for feeling so stupid to lose to a mere girl, even if it was Sakura.

He clambered up after her, chasing her out of the room and hot on her heels down the stairs.

Coming to a skidding halt at the bottom of the stairs Sasuke lost sight of Sakura and decided to not let her get away with this, no matter how long it took him to find her.

After all, it was his game in the first place.

He peeked around the corner in the living room and saw no sign of her, so he then dashed over to the kitchen when he heard Mitsu's voice coming from it.

Sasuke burst forth into the large kitchen and found Mitsu standing next to Sakura, who was sitting innocently in one of the chair around the table.

"Good morning!" Mitsu greeted Sasuke cheerfully with a smile.

Sasuke noticed that three glasses were set out in three places on the table along with a spoon, fork, and last but certainly not the least used was a napkin.

Salt and pepper shakers were placed next to Sakura near the middle of the table.

He returned her greeting and sat down across from Sakura so that he was now directly facing her.

Sasuke lifted an eyebrow skeptically, "You know, using other people as a way to escape counts as cheating,"

Sakura rolled her eyes, completely dismissing his comment.

"There will be no games of any kind while you two are in the kitchen." Mitsu warned them.

Sakura nodded and Sasuke copied her nod, continuing to look at each other from across the table.

"Well then let's get down to having breakfast," She declared and with a clap of her hands walked over to where Sasuke was sitting down at the table.

Sasuke broke away from looking at Sakura and turned his attention to face Mitsu.

After all, Itachi did tell him to mind his manners and he didn't want to disappoint his older brother by not doing what was expected of him.

"Sasuke, we have pancakes, oat-" But Mitsu was interrupted by a sharp clanging of Sakura's spoon against her empty glass repeatedly.

"Oh well I believe that Sakura here would like you to tells us what you want for breakfast using her way." She interpreted, turning her field of vision to look at where Sakura was sitting.

Sasuke turned his head to look at her from across the table.

_Her way? I wonder what she means by that…_

They both watched as Sakura picked up a book that had been hidden behind the salt and pepper shakers.

It was small like Sakura's writing notepad, but this one was light green with a floral design on the border of it.

_It looks like a booklet of some sort._

Sakura turned the front over to Sasuke so he could see what words it were on the front of it.

Labeled neatly on the top of the floral bordering in the middle of the cover were the words, "Pick and Choose Mealtime!"

Sasuke was intrigued by this, for he realized that Sakura didn't use it last night when her aunt made them all dinner.

_But then again, Mitsu made it when while we were playing outside and we didn't know. Or maybe she wanted it to be a surprise or something._

Sakura turned the front of the booklet to face back towards her and then flipped through a couple of pages.

Very slowly, as if taking her time in looking at what was on each page.

So slowly it was as if she was memorizing a foreign code like the sake of the world depended on it.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was curiously leaning over the table inch by inch to get a glimpse of what some of the inside pages looked like.

From beside him, Mitsu let out an amused laugh and Sasuke looked at her with a confused expression, hoping that she would at least explain what Sakura was doing before he snatched the booklet from her due to his lack of patience.

As if magically reading his needful mind she opened her mouth and began to explain.

"This is a mealtime booklet," She started to say.

Sasuke rolled his eyes and had a strong urge to say, "Thanks Captain Obvious!" but he didn't want to be rude, so instead he kept his mouth shut and continued listening for a further explanation.

"It has the three main mealtimes listed inside it. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. On each page there is a picture that matches with the words underneath it. It's just a fun and simple little way that I came up with for Sakura to be more independent." Mitsu stated.

Sasuke nodded, now having a better understanding of it.

"I'm sure we both know how hard-headed she can be at times." Mitsu joked lightly, which in turn made Sasuke let out a chuckle.

The sound of pages being flipped through came to a sudden halt and Sasuke stopped his laugh and gulped, for he knew exactly the reason why.

Slowly he dragged his gaze to where Sakura was sitting and bit his lip when he saw her hand in the form of a fist and another evil grin plastered on her face.

"Now, now Sakura be good. Sasuke is still a guest here, no matter if he stays here for a couple of days or a couple of weeks." She told her with a firm look.

Sakura nodded, releasing her fist and then she continued looking through the booklet.

A sigh of relief escaped Sasuke's mouth, for he had just been spared of what could have been a very, very large catastrophe.

A week had passed since Sasuke had begun staying with Sakura and her aunt Mitsu.

Sasuke now knew his way around quite well; in fact he was able to roam freely without having to ask where anything was or where to put a certain dish away when helping out with the dishes after each meal.

Sasuke even knew her mealtime booklet by memory now and was able to understand more of Sakura's simple gestures without her needing to write on her notepad.

His older brother called in every two days, just like he always did, although he never mentioned anything to Sasuke that involved work or where he was.

Sasuke knew that the way his older brother was acting was definitely out of the ordinary for him, but decided not to push asking him as to why any further.

He just hoped that it would pass over soon and his older brother would return home.

Three whole months went by.

For Mitsu each day was a blessing as she watched Sakura and Sasuke grow closer as friends.

For Sakura, every day she spent with Sasuke she found herself staring into his onyx eyes she knew that they resembled darkness, but all she could feel was her heart being filled with light each time.

And for Sasuke, not a single day went by without him growing fonder of Sakura; even if she couldn't speak he knew that he could hear her voice speak through her actions.

The sweet smile on her face, warm hugs, blushing scarlet cheeks, and even the occasional unexpected tackle from behind.

The only thing that was unsettling to Sasuke was the fact that three months had passed by since his older brother had last called him, and Itachi was one to never miss a single call, so Sasuke was constantly thinking of his older brother and fearing for what had happened to him that kept him from contacting him.

Although he kept acting like everything was fine when Mitsu would ask about how his older brother was doing and he would lie to her and Sakura just so they wouldn't worry over him about it.

Besides, what they don't know won't hurt them.

Or could it…?

Today was March 27th, the day before Sakura's birthday.

Today was the day that she finally decided to show Sasuke what he had been so curious to see when they played outside on the teeter-totter for the first time.

Today was the day that he would change both of their lives for a very long time, even if it wasn't his choice to.

Sasuke just didn't know it yet.

As of right now, he was waiting just outside the white door in the guest room that he had been so tempted to go in before but resisted.

Sakura had wanted him to wait, she went in first and he impatiently counted a minute in his head and then yanked open the door.

Now he was practically bubbling over with excitement, he bolted through it and ran out into the sunshine and semi-warm outside air, hastily looking for what the black thing really was.

His eyes widened when he saw a large sleek piano and Sakura sitting on the bench that was pulled out from underneath it.

She smiled at him and gestured for him to come over and sit by her.

He did so, with his feet echoing off of the balcony floor, his eyes grazed over the piano as his smile grew wider with each passing second.

_No way! I've never seen a piano this awesome before!_

It was like an elegant beast to Sasuke.

Keys of ivory white and smaller keys of charcoal black decorated it; smooth brown wood was curled delicately underneath the keys, and when Sasuke glanced up he could clearly see his reflection along with Sakura's in the shiny blackness of the beautiful piano.

"This is… Amazing," Sasuke yelled out to the world as he brushed his fingers lightly across a few of the keys.

Sakura nodded approvingly and then placed her hands on the keys of the piano as Sasuke placed his hand in his lap.

Sasuke watched as her delicate fingers danced across different keys of the piano, pressed down on some of the keys, and kept playing the piano in the same motion with the same keys as a calming rhythmic pattern was heard.

As her fingers pressed down accordingly to the right keys, beautiful notes followed by others similar to each one before it flowed out of the piano.

They weren't just beautiful, but they were saddening at the same time.

Sasuke's ears perked up at the soothing notes being played by Sakura, who was intently focused on making sure that she hit each key at the right time and with just the right amount of force.

He felt calmed by the pattern of notes as a warm smile lazily appeared on his face.

Distinctly, Sasuke knew that this tune wasn't quite a lullaby, so he mentally labeled it as a melody.

A completely soothing melody unlike any other kind he had ever heard before, this one was unique to his ears and he loved every note she played with every touch of her fingers.

By the time Sakura had repeated the melody two times, she lifted her fingers from the piano and faced Sasuke, directing her pointer finger at him.

"What?" He asked, visibly not comprehending what she was requesting of him.

As a response to his question Sakura opened her mouth as if she was going to sing, for she held it open wider and longer than a word would take.

She then pointed to Sasuke once more as she closed her mouth shut with a grin on her face.

"I can't sing. I've never tried." He told her, now realizing that she wanted him to sing along as she played.

Sakura took her small notepad out of her back jeans pocket and wrote in it.

When she was finished, Sasuke read her writing on the paper.

"Well now's your chance. Please, for me?" The notepad pleaded.

Sasuke's eyes flickered up to Sakura's, which held silent pleading within them as well.

After about a minute, she switched her facial expression to one of a begging puppy's, he gazed at her expression and then hastily tore his eyes away.

He groaned, for he knew that no one, not even an Uchiha such as himself, had enough self control to resist any type of puppy face.

"Fine, you win." Sasuke sighed with defeat as Sakura quit the puppy face act and returned her notepad to her pocket, and then eagerly put her fingers on the starting keys of the melody.

Hurriedly, he fished his mind for any remembrance of song lyrics that would be suitable for her melody, but came up empty.

_Guess I'll have to just make something up... Ugh, but that's even harder!_

Sakura started playing the melody again, although this time she played it more slowly like she was letting Sasuke get a feel for the notes.

"Let me think for a minute." Sasuke told her as he began to create lyrics that matched with the notes.

She nodded and kept playing at the same pace as Sasuke paid closer attention to the notes with his ears.

The notes were still just as beautiful and saddening as the first time he heard them, it was as if each note told a chapter of a silent story waiting to be interpreted.

_A chapter… Like a chapter in our lives. Silent… Like Sakura. Interpreted… Like how I interpret her. Wait, that's it!_

An idea began to take root in his mind, which he hungrily branched off of, forming lyrics in his mind.

Sasuke closed his eyes for a minute, took a deep breath, opened them, waited for the first note of the third time around, and then started to sing out loud for the first time in his life.

"Because they forbid, your voice hid.

When you feel so weak that you can't speak,

Well this time you've got a choice, 'cause I'll be your voice.

This is your muted melody, always awaiting the next tragedy.

All I see is shattered glass from a past I can't let go,

When I look up at the skies, just trying to tell the truth from all of the lies.

But you show me one true thing, that our feelings are connected by an invisible string.

This is my muted melody, fighting an unbeatable enemy.

We will figure out what's real and what's not, let's give this life another shot.

When we've got nowhere to run and everything's coming undone,

We'll find a place where we belong, we just gotta stay strong.

This is our muted melody, searching for serenity."

When he had finished singing, Sasuke was surprised at how even and how easy it was to match each lyric with every note.

Grinning, he turned to see Sakura with a smile on her face and the notepad already in her hand as she was writing something down.

"I loved your version! You have a really nice voice!" The notepad praised with a smiley face at the end.

Sasuke couldn't help but turn a light shade of pink and with a small duck of his head he told her, "Thanks."

_Now I'm a bit embarrassed, after all it was my first time singing and Sakura actually like my voice. Sure, this feeling is kind of embarrassing, but it's also kind of nice in a way. It's like getting rewarded. The weird thing is I can't seem to remember the last time I was rewarded for doing something as small as this. _

After that, Sakura played a few different songs while Sasuke fondly listed along as the afternoon drifted by enjoyably.

**That evening: 7:53 pm.**

Sasuke was sitting cross-legged on the guest bed, his shoulders hunched over as he worked on completing Sakura's birthday present.

Before him lay various objects, scissors, three single cherry blossom flowers that he had hand-picked out himself earlier, a red velvet ribbon, a pink gift box with a lid to match, a piece of paper, a picture of Sasuke and Sakura smiling together that Mitsu had took one day, and last but certainly not least, a black marker.

Occasionally, he would dart his eyes over to the closed door just to make sure no one was coming in or peeking at what he was doing without his knowing.

Shifting his eyes back to her present he reached to the left of him and grasped a pair of scissors in his left hand and with his right he picked up three cherry blossom flowers.

He aligned the scissors to the near bottom portion of the first cherry blossom flower and snipped it off in one swift movement.

He then set the freshly cut cherry blossom flower back on the bed and did the exact same with the remaining two, attempting to cut them as close to each other as he could so they would be even.

He tossed the scissors aside, for now they served no purpose to him.

From within Sasuke's right pocket of his jean shorts there was a light ringing sound calling out to him, he pulled it out hastily, held the cell phone up to his ear, and then pressed the 'send' button.

_It has to be Itachi, it just has to!_

"Big brother?" Sasuke asked anxiously into the receiver, holding his breath in anticipation.

"S-Sasuke?" His older brother asked in a shaky and what seemed to be a pain-filled tone.

Silent alarms began going off in Sasuke's head, for his older brother had never sounded this way before when doing something for work.

_Something has to be wrong…_

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked his older brother, now sounding distressed due to the tone of his older brother, yet at the same time relieved to hear from him after not hearing from him in so long.

Sasuke heard a faint voice saying something to Itachi, but it sounded much more like an order of some sort.

He heard his older brother reply to whoever had told him something and then Sasuke clutched the cell phone tighter against his ear, attempting to hear some of their conversation.

He mentally cursed his hearing when he still couldn't pick up on a single thing they were talking about.

"Come to me as fast as your feet will take you. Leave tonight when no one else is awake. Travel only at night until you reach the company gates." Itachi instructed him straightforwardly, now sounding more in control of himself.

_So this is all about the company, I should have known all along! But wait, I can't leave right before Sakura's birthday… She would surely be crushed if I did._

"But tomorrow's Saku-" He began saying as a protest.

"I don't care. This matter is of uttermost urgency and cannot wait under any circumstances." His older brother cut him off harshly.

Sasuke flinched back from the receiver; Itachi hardly ever used that tone of voice with him unless he was very angry or something really serious was going on.

"Yes Itachi…" He murmured into the receiver, now feeling like he had failed his older brother by making an excuse.

_Uchihas don't make up excuses; they do what is expected of them._

"Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I just really, really need you right now, Sasuke." Itachi spoke in a much gentler tone of voice now.

"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can." Sasuke said.

"Good, also be sure to get the files from the apartment too." Itachi said to him, although his voice went low when he said the word files.

Sasuke just figured that Itachi didn't want anyone else to know about the files or hear talk of them, but Sasuke knew exactly what his older brother was talking about.

"Will do." Sasuke replied, seeing the mental image of the stack of files that Itachi kept hidden in the bottom of the desk drawer in their apartment that was guarded with three combination locks, two cam locks, and one padlock.

Sasuke remembered how to get in them, how they put a huge hole in Itachi's money pocket, and how they took almost a full two days to install correctly, even with the help of the instruction booklet.

"Be careful on your way," Itachi warned him and then added, "I love you, little brother."

"Yeah, you too." Sasuke said with a warm smile on his face through his troubled feelings, because through all this, he honestly missed hearing those words for over three months now.

The line went dead; Sasuke closed the cell phone shut and returned to finishing his present for Sakura.

He tried not to think of the things his older brother had just said and how they would affect Sakura and him, but he couldn't help feeling a ting of guilt because he wouldn't be there to see her open it.

Later on that night, just as Sasuke was about to shut off the lights and go to sleep there was a light knocking at the door.

"You can come in, I'm decent." Sasuke called out.

Mitsu came in and closed the door behind her and then took a seat next to Sasuke on the guest bed.

"Sorry, I realize it's late, but here's something I've been meaning to speak with you about." Mitsu told him.

He nodded, "Sure, what is it?"

"Have you ever wondered why Sakura doesn't talk?" She asked straightforward.

Her simple question hit Sasuke like a ton of bricks.

"Doesn't… Not can't. That means…" He fumbled over the words, both verbally and mentally.

"Yes, that means she can fully well speak without a problem, but she just chooses not to. At least she hasn't spoken a single word since-" Mitsu paused, appearing to have trouble finishing her sentence.

"Since her parents passing?" Sasuke finished/asked quietly.

"Since her parents yes, but they didn't die. They were both sent to prison because they were doing things a parent should never do. They both treated Sakura very badly and she was hurt over and over by what they kept doing." She told him in a way his young mind would be able to understand it.

The image of Sasuke's still living parents flashed through his head and he clenched his fist at the sight of them, but also due to the knowing that Sakura's parents were like them.

"But during all of that time when she was treated badly by them she still loved them." She said with a sad small smile.

"Even if they did do illegal things and put her through them, even if they cared more about their stupid drugs and druggie friends to not even bother to look after her properly or take the time to go to the park with her. She still loved them…" Mitsu whispered sadly.

The image quickly left his mind when he heard those words and his fist returned back to being a harmless hand.

_Oh Sakura I'm sorry. You didn't deserve to go through all that…_

He was intensely saddened learning this information about Sakura and what had caused her to not speak.

Because what her parents did to her was far worse than what he and Itachi had to go through, and she was facing them all alone.

Sasuke had his older brother, but she on the other hand, had no one to turn to in the long nights of tears and loneliness.

"I haven't seen her smile since I took her under my wing. Not until you came along that is. She's been less sad and instead she's been getting happier each day ever since she met you. Bit by bit I can see it." She said.

Sasuke nodded, beginning to not feel as sad because he was helping her in a way that he didn't even know of until just now.

But as the young Uchiha began to think about the words that Mitsu had just shared with him he realized that she was wrong on one matter about Sakura.

He opened his mouth and spoke in a low tone, not wanting to let his sadness seep through his words, "But she's smiled before. Come to think of it, the first day we met she smiled at me."

"That may be, but you see Sasuke, Sakura is able to fake emotions quite easily. She can fool many people into thinking she's happy or excited, but in all honesty deep down in her precious little heart she's sad."Mitsu told him.

"Maybe she does that because she doesn't want you or anyone else to worry about her or be sad because of her," Sasuke guessed.

"Maybe," She mused.

Mitsu reached over and gripped Sasuke's hands within hers, holding them as if she was desperate for something that only he possessed.

"Can you do something for me Sasuke, just one thing?" She asked, her voice now sounding as if it was hanging off a cliff and asking for the only lifeline to save it.

"What is it?" He questioned, trying to reign in his sad tone so that he wouldn't let her think he was weak or overly affected by hearing all of this.

Sasuke looked at her eyes; likewise, they were filled with some sort of silent desperate plea.

"Keep making Sakura happy." She pleaded with her voice and eyes.

_Keep making her happy? There's nothing else I'd rather spend my days without my big brother doing than make her happy because she makes me happy!_

Sasuke cracked a smirk and Mitsu shook her head.

"I mean more than what you're doing now." She told him in the same tone of voice.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow questioningly, his smirk now fading to a confused look.

"What I mean is… Well, you might be too young to fully understand what I'm going to say to you but one day you'll figure it out. I want you to be there for her when she needs you the most, to laugh with her, to continue being such a good friend to her, to not let her doubt herself, but most of all… I want you to help her speak again." She told him.

Mitsu turned her head and Sasuke realized that it was to wipe away a tear from her eyes.

"I remember how her voice used to sound. It was so full of love and happiness. Nothing could ever break her joyful tone until her parents made her to stop talking when they brought people over. She used to sing too, her voice was so pure and beautiful to listen to. Someday, regardless if you're able to help her speak again, I'm sure someday you'll get to hear her beautiful voice." Mitsu murmured as she finished wiping the tears away from her eyes.

She turned back to face Sasuke, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be this talkative right now. It's past your bedtime and you need your sleep to keep growing up all strong and healthy. I'll let you get your rest now, good night, Sasuke." Mitsu said, now back to her usual cheerful tone as she got up from the bed, shut the lights off, and then closed the door behind her after she walked out.

Sasuke let out a sigh and let himself fall backwards from where he had been sitting on the bed.

Feeling the covers and pillow curve under his weight, he focused on the ceiling as his eyes became adjusted to the darkness.

"I will make her happy someday, but right now my big brother needs me more." He confessed to the ceiling.

Sasuke felt another stab of guilt, stronger this time, because it felt like he was confessing to Sakura herself instead of the ceiling.

**March 28, 1:21 am.**

Sasuke crawled out of the guest bed, turned the light switch on and quietly packed all of his belongings together as he got ready to leave.

He was sad, for he didn't want to leave Sakura on her birthday of all days, but he also didn't want to leave the feelings they had shared and the unforgettable friendship they had discovered together.

At the same time he knew it was for the best, Itachi was his main priority before she came along, so that rightfully put his older brother first, and Sasuke knew he couldn't just leave his only living family member that he still trusted and loved in his time of need.

Although Sasuke didn't quite know what that need was besides that it had something to do with the company, he would find out as soon as he arrived there and Itachi would be the one to tell him all that had been going on these past few months ever since he left.

Sasuke grabbed his suitcase with everything now packed inside of it and scooped Sakura's present under his free arm and held it behind his back as he made his way carefully out of the guest room and into her room.

Ever-so-slowly Sasuke opened the door leading to her bedroom and crept in as quiet as a mouse.

The moon was out; he noticed it shined through her bedroom window, which was a good thing because Sasuke knew that he would need it to guide him until he could get a flashlight at the apartment.

He tip-toed over to the side of her bed and found that she was sleeping peacefully in it.

Sasuke sighed into the darkness, let go of his suitcase, and listened for any signs of nocturnal movement besides him.

The only sounds that could be heard were the constant nighttime chirping of the crickets and Sakura's soft breathing.

A sad smile appeared on his face as he took her present out from behind his back and gripped the soft red velvet laced edges of the ribbon.

Carefully, Sasuke placed her present on the pillow beside her that was currently not being used by her and pulled his hands back to his side.

"I hope you like my present, Sakura. I know it's not much, but it'll have to do until I can come back to you." Sasuke told her through the darkness that surrounded them.

"Please cherish my memory; I know I won't forget yours." He whispered to her softly with a somewhat large unexplainable lump forming in his throat, making it tight and hard to speak.

A small sigh escaped her lips, as if she could actually hear him in her sleep.

He chuckled at that idea, because if she really was then she would be fully capable of forcing him to stay right now instead of leaving her tonight.

Sasuke swallowed and felt the unexplainable lump disappear, which made him able to talk normally again.

"Happy birthday Sakura," Sasuke murmured into her pink locks that surrounded her face as he gently leaned down and kissed her on the cheek lightly.

Sasuke leaned back up and held onto the latch of his suitcase knowing that it was time for him to go.

He padded over to the window, slowly opening it as he tried to make himself sound as quiet as possible so that he wouldn't wake Sakura.

Sasuke managed to pry open the window just enough so that way he could squeeze himself and his suitcase through it without waking anyone in the process.

Sasuke heaved his suitcase through it and onto the roof, it was surprisingly heavy when he had to lift it through, but he managed to do so without banging it into the sides of the window.

Then he took one step out of the window so that foot was resting safely on the roof, looked back ruefully at Sakura's sleeping form once more, and then slipped out into the dead of the moonlit night.

A lone tear made its way down his face as he clutched his suitcase and leaped off of the roof, landing safely on the ground he began walking with the moonlight washing over his face.

Sasuke hadn't noticed the tear travel down from his eye to his cheek but when he did he was taken aback, for he had not shed any tears since his parents passing.

With each step he took, Sasuke got farther away from Sakura, yet with each step more tears followed after each other, racing down his moonlit face.

Sasuke lifted one of his hands up to catch one of the falling tears in bewilderment as he felt his heart get heavy and the lump came back in his throat, making it tighter than ever before.

"Sakura…" Sasuke sobbed her name out into the dead of night as more tears escaped his eyes falling freely, for he was now unable to stop them.

Similar to how he couldn't stop them from falling when his parents were buried, for Sasuke had left a piece of himself with them that day.

The only conclusion that he could come to was that he left a piece of himself with Sakura when he left too.

Maybe, just maybe this is how it feels to completely severe the blissful bringing bonds that Sakura and Sasuke had shared together.

_I don't know, but one way or another it feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest and the gushing blood is my cascading tears spilling out all of my emotions._

There's the third chapter of Muted Melody! I'm sorry it took so long to write up, I was so busy in between school and getting my mom back on her feet. She's okay now, which is great. And yes, I created the little lyrical song Sasuke sang to Sakura, but that's just a rough draft of it! Also, the lyrics foreshadow things of what is to come. I'm having surgery on my right hand this Tuesday, but I'll try to post up a short preface of after the time skip and what occurs during it as they get older. Also, which POV would you guys prefer the actual main story in? Sasuke's or Sakura's? Or an alternation between the two of them? Comments are very much appreciated!


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